W B Doner Co

Advertiser: Longs Drug Stores Agency: W.B. Doner, Detroit Challenge: Establish Longs as a drugstore chain with a long-standing commitment to customers. The Ads: In six television spots, a befuddled man randomly seeks advice on toiletries and medication from his neighbors. "Spray or roll-on?" he asks two teenage boys. "Extra-strength or maximum strength?" He climbs up a ladder to ask a satellite-dish installer, "What's your opinion of melatonin?"

Advertiser: Longs Drug Stores Agency: W.B. Doner, Detroit Challenge: Establish Longs as a drugstore chain with a long-standing commitment to customers. The Ads: In six television spots, a befuddled man randomly seeks advice on toiletries and medication from his neighbors. "Spray or roll-on?" he asks two teenage boys. "Extra-strength or maximum strength?" He climbs up a ladder to ask a satellite-dish installer, "What's your opinion of melatonin?"

Yet another major out-of-town advertising agency, W. B. Doner & Co., has closed its Los Angeles office. The agency, which has headquarters in both suburban Detroit and Baltimore, on Thursday abruptly closed its Los Angeles office nearly nine years after it opened. This marks the third big out-of-town agency to close its Los Angeles division in less than a year. Last month, the new ad firm Scali, McCabe, Sloves announced plans to close its Los Angeles office.

Yet another major out-of-town advertising agency, W. B. Doner & Co., has closed its Los Angeles office. The agency, which has headquarters in both suburban Detroit and Baltimore, on Thursday abruptly closed its Los Angeles office nearly nine years after it opened. This marks the third big out-of-town agency to close its Los Angeles division in less than a year. Last month, the new ad firm Scali, McCabe, Sloves announced plans to close its Los Angeles office.

W.B. Doner & Co. said Tim Blett has been appointed to head a new unit called Doner Automotive, overseeing the agency's Mazda account. Doner Automotive will be based in Southern California. Doner last year won the $250-million account, which had long been handled by Foote, Cone & Belding. Blett previously worked on Ford dealer association accounts handled by Doner's Detroit office. . . . Asher Gould Advertising of Los Angeles said it has changed its name to Asher & Partners.

Advertiser: Florist Transworld Delivery Agency: W.B. Doner & Co., Detroit Challenge: Convince consumers to send flowers regularly via FTD. The Ad: The first in a series of commercials devoted to persuading consumers to send flowers for everyday occasions focuses on a florist. As he assembles a bouquet, he muses: "I know this will make a few folks happy along the way." The scene cuts to a delivery man who gives the bouquet to a surprised female office worker.

Gotcha Sportswear, a major regional maker of surf wear, is reaching for a bigger chunk of its fast-growing market and has budgeted $2 million for its first national ad campaign in January. The blitz, which represents about half of Gotcha's total marketing budget, will pit the Costa Mesa company against Ocean Pacific Sunwear Inc. of Tustin in the national arena. Gotcha officials said they hope the campaign, being designed by the Los Angeles office of Michigan-based W.B. Doner & Co.

For Parker Pen, it was the write stuff. After all, specially made Parker pens were in hand when President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed an agreement last week that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons. While the pact took more than six years to hammer out, Parker says its marketing coup required only six weeks of planning with the State Department. But Parker didn't stop there. In an attempt to etch its place in history, the New Haven, Conn.

Ever wonder if your TV screen is suddenly playing tricks on you when the commercials come on? That colorful-looking jar of Maxwell House coffee never looks nearly as bright when you see it on the grocery store shelf. And that fluffy-looking package of Angel Soft toilet paper often looks comparatively fluff-less at the store. It's not your TV that's playing games with you. It's companies such as Prop Art. Prop Art has one mission: to make product packages look more beautiful than life.

The Shalek Agency grew up Monday. The Santa Monica ad firm was handed the estimated $20-million to $30-million account to buy broadcast commercial time and print and billboard advertising space for Fox Broadcasting Co. The account was handled until a year ago by giant Western International. Executives at Fox and Shalek declined to state the exact amount of billings. The win nearly doubles the 2-year-old agency's annual billings to $65 million.

Aquaculture's strides toward becoming a reliable source of scarce seafood species are evident from a Central California shellfish operation's recent announcement. Last week, the Abalone Farm Inc., of Point Estero, harvested its one-millionth commercial-sized abalone. The milestone is significant because the mollusks have proved difficult to cultivate, and, as a result, there are less than half-a-dozen such operations currently in existence.

Private investors Jack and Elena Alcalay purchased Bermuda Dunes Plaza, a 29,608-square-foot shopping center at Washington Street and Country Club Drive in Bermuda Dunes, for $4.2 million from AIG Bermuda Dunes Partners of Laguna Beach. Roary S. Walsh of Grubb & Ellis, who represented the seller, said the center was 93% leased at the time of the sale. Phil Seymour of Elite Properties represented the buyers.